The Match-Up: The Leopards begin the 2025 campaign with a road trip to Ohio for a meeting with Bowling Green. The matchup marks the second straight year Lafayette will face a MAC opponent to open the season. 
    Head coach John Troxell enters his 20th career season on the sidelines and fourth for the Maroon and White. Bowling Green ushers in the Eddie George era, as the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner begins his tenure with the Falcons.

Season Openers: The Leopards are 89-51-3 all-time in season openers for a program that was established in 1882. Lafayette has won three of its last five season openers, beating Colgate 24-10 on March 13, 2021, Sacred Heart 6-0 on Sept. 3, 2022 and Sacred Heart 19-14 on Sept. 2, 2023. Losses came to FBS foes  Air Force (35-14 on Sept. 4, 2021) and Buffalo, (30-13 on Aug. 29, 2024).

With a Win on Thursday, Lafayette Would: 
• notch program win No. 707
• claim three straight wins over teams from Ohio
• begin the season 1-0 for the third time in four years

Unfamiliar Territory: Thursday's meeting with the Falcons is only the third time in the Leopards' 144 year history that the program will face off with a team from Ohio. Previously, Lafayette played Dayton in 1923 (a 45-0 win) and Ohio Wesleyan in 1948 (a 27-7 win), with both contests being played on College Hill. 
    The season opener makes history for the Maroon and White, as it's the first time that the Leopards have played a game in Ohio. 

Open Early: Thursday's Aug. 28 contest against Bowling Green is the earliest the Leopards have begun a season. The previous earliest start was last year's Aug. 29 kickoff at Buffalo.

On the Sideline: John Troxell '94 is in his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater's football program, a tenure that includes a Patriot League title and NCAA playoff berth in his second season. That 2023 campaign saw the Leopards post the most wins in a campaign in more than 40 years. The team went from 4-7 (3-3 PL) in year one (2022) to 9-3 (5-1 PL) in year two (2023). Both seasons were capped by wins over archrival Lehigh.
    Troxell was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2023 and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
FBS Foes: For the first time since 1993 (Buffalo and Army), Lafayette will face two FBS opponents in a season, playing Bowling Green and Oregon State in 2025. 
    Lafayette opened 2024 at Buffalo and faced No. 21 Duke in week two of 2023. The Leopards have sprinkled in FBS opponents intermittently over the last eight seasons, playing Army in 2016 and 2018, Air Force in 2021 and Temple in 2022. The Leopards are slated to play Connecticut, Air Force and Akron in the coming seasons.

From Falcons to Leopards: Lafayette has a trio of athletic connections to Bowling Green, as Senior AD's Andrew Foster and Carly Riepenhoff are both graduates of the university. Foster played baseball for the Falcons, while Riepenhoff was a member of the softball team. Thursday will also serve as a reunion for DL Joey Shimko, who spent 2024 on the Bowling Green football roster. Current Leopard offensive coordinator T.J. DiMuzio spent four seasons at Bowling Green, first as a defensive graduate assistant working with the defensive ends in 2009-10. In 2011, he was elevated to director of player personnel and also served as the assistant special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator.

Captains of the Ship: Seniors Dean DeNobile, Elijah Steward, Brian Baucia and Phillip Peiffer all were selected as recipients of the Chris LaPietra '89 Captain Award ahead of the 2025 slate.
    For DeNobile, its the second straight season that the QB has been named team captain. Steward earns captaincy after leading the Lafayette offense in receiving for the third straight season. Baucia returns to anchor the interior of the offensive line, a position that he's held for 33 games over three seasons. Peiffer returned to Easton for a fifth season after a season-ending injury in 2024. 

Preseason All-Patriot League: Senior WR Elijah Steward and junior LS Dylan Aguilera garnered Preseason All-Patriot League honors. For Steward, the nomination marks consecutive preseason all-conference selections. The Galloway, N.J. native followed up the honor in 2024 with a season that earned him a spot on the All-Patriot League Second-Team. Aguilera was chosen for the honor for the first time in his career after starting in all 12 games last year, joining Steward on the All-Patriot League Second-Team.

700 Level: The Lafayette football program reached the 700-win plateau with the dominating victory over Lehigh in the 2023 regular-season finale. The Leopards, whose inaugural season was 1882, rank 51st among all levels of college football with 706 wins. 

Local Flavor: Since John Troxell took over in 2022, he has placed an emphasis on retaining local talent from the greater Lehigh Valley region. Troxell, a Phillipsburg graduate, added his alma mater's Matthew Scerbo as part of the Class of '29. 
    Nazareth has accounted for the most recent surge in local recruiting as OL Sean Kinney was a member of the Class of 2028 and started 11 games in his rookie season, joining WR Mason Kuehner who played in every game with four starts and took over return duties. This season, Troxell welcomes WR Caleb Newsome from Nazareth, all of whom played for Leopard alum Tom Falzone '00. Junior Sean Wilson is an Easton native who started six games at right tackle in 2024, one of three players from Easton along with junior QB Peyton Cosover and senior LB Jack Bayly.
    Junior Ethan Hosak, who is battling for the starting spot at tight end, played at Allentown Central Catholic, while rookie LB Justin Peluso hails from Freedom High School in Bethlehem, having played for Jason Roeder, brother of current Lafayette passing game coordinator coach Ryan Roeder. 
    
4K For Dean DeNobile: With 275 yards against Stonehill (11/16/24), QB Dean DeNobile surpassed 4,000 career passing yards for his career. He finished his junior campaign with 4,414 career passing yards, ranking ninth all-time at Lafayette and needing 556 passing yards to move into eighth spot. He also rests ninth in career completions (396), with 33 catches standing between him and eighth place. 

Lining Up: Lafayette used six different starting lineups on the offensive line in 2024 (due to injuries). By contrast, the Leopards employed one starting front five for all of 2023. The Leopards sent out nine linemen as starters in 2024 using Ryder Langsdale (LT), Brian Baucia (LG), Sean Kinney (C), Reed Collins (RG) and Sean Wilson (RT) as the front five in the final six games. All but Langsdale, who transferred to Rutgers, return to the fold. 

Dose of Penza: Sophomore QB Jason Penza received plenty of action in his freshman campaign. Offensive coordinator T.J. DiMuzio used Penza as a dual-threat option, adding another dimension to the Lafayette offense. In seven games, Penza tallied 28 rushing attempts for 171 yards, 52 of which came against Bucknell (11/2). The Crystal Lake, Ill. native completed five of his six passing attempts for 31 yards.

On the Charts: With 141 career receptions, senior WR Elijah Steward needs five more catches to move into seventh place, occupied by Mark Layton '11 (146). The economics major currently has accumulated 1,743 career receiving yards, requiring 37 yards to slide into eighth place all-time ahead of Layton (1,780). Steward already holds the Lafayette single-game receptions record with 15 at Monmouth in 2024.
 
The Patriot Poll: Lafayette was picked fifth in the Patriot League preseason poll announced July 23. The ballot, voted on by conference coaches and sports information directors, placed the Leopards (47) behind Lehigh (97), Richmond (83), Holy Cross (78) and Bucknell (51) and ahead of Georgetown (32), Colgate (31) and Fordham (29). In 2024, Lafayette was selected first in the preseason poll and finished fourth.

The Opponent: Bowling Green hosts the Leopards for the first game in the Eddie George era, as the former Heisman winner was hired by the Falcons after four years at Tennessee State. After Lafayette, Bowling Green takes on Cincinnati, Liberty and Louisville before facing eight straight MAC opponents.
    Bowling Green boasts a revamped roster, bringing in 27 transfers to rework the offense and defense. Projected to lead the Falcon offense is QB Drew Pyne. Named to the Wuerffel Trophy Preseason Watch List, Pyne brings experience from stops at Notre Dame, Arizona State and Missouri. TE Arlis Boardingham will vie for a role in the passing game after transferring from Florida, where he had 44 catches for 417 yards and six touchdowns.
    Defensively, CB Jalen McClendon and DL Eriq George look to continue the success they had at Tennessee State. McClendon was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, tallying 66 tackles, 15 PBUs and one interception. George follows his father to Bowling Green after racking up 57 tackles, 12.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks in 2024.

Hall of Fame Weekend: The Lafayette Maroon Club will hold its annual Hall of Fame Induction Dinner on the eve of Rivalry 161. Penny (Erisman/Ferency) Bermender '91, James Conrad '07, Deanna DiCroce '13, Mike Joseph '88, Matt Lancor '88 and Bill Lawson will be inducted into the Maroon Club Hall of Fame's Class of 2025-26 during the Hall of Fame Dinner on Friday, Nov. 21 at Kirby Sports Center. 
    Joseph was a defensive back at Lafayette, later returning as the program's defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 1992-2002. As a freshman, he was the program's rookie of the year. The Allentown, Pa. native led the Colonial League in interceptions (7) in 1986 and ranked 16th nationally. He set the fifth-best single-season mark by modern Patriot League history standards and claimed second place on Lafayette's all-time single-season interceptions list.
    Over his four years, he became Lafayette's all-time leader in picks and was named the team MVP while garnering All-Colonial League First-Team honors in 1987. The Industrial Engineering major left College Hill with a 22-22 overall record. He was also a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
    Joseph then earned his master's degree from Villanova in addition to working as a football graduate assistant coach under Andy Talley for two years. During his return tenure on the Leopard staff in 1992, he continued to shape the program with his expertise and leadership alongside Hall of Fame head coach Bill Russo. Joseph was privileged to recruit and guide over five future Hall of Fame players as well.
    In 2009, he went on to be the lead color analyst for Astound Television Network (formerly RCN), broadcasting local Lehigh Valley high school and Lafayette College football for the past 16 years.